U.S. patent number 8,458,351 [Application Number 13/439,486] was granted by the patent office on 2013-06-04 for substituting content for undesirable content in a web browser.
This patent grant is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. The grantee listed for this patent is Fonda J. Daniels, Patrick R. Guido, Wesley J. Gyure, Kent F. Hayes, Jr., Robert C. Leah, Paul F. McMahan. Invention is credited to Fonda J. Daniels, Patrick R. Guido, Wesley J. Gyure, Kent F. Hayes, Jr., Robert C. Leah, Paul F. McMahan.
United States Patent |
8,458,351 |
McMahan , et al. |
June 4, 2013 |
Substituting content for undesirable content in a web browser
Abstract
A selection of a menu command that identifies a selected area of
a web page as containing undesirable content is detected using a
user input device of a client computer system executing a web
browser that loads source web content from a group of servers. In
response to the detection of the selected menu command, an
alternate Internet Protocol (IP) address is substituted for a
hostname of a website that provided the undesirable content. The
alternate IP address is selected based on a content substitution
profile of the client computer system. Using the substituted
alternate IP address in response to a content request that
identifies the undesirable content, the web page is reloaded with
substituted source web content received from a server accessed by
the alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page instead of displaying the undesirable content identified in
the content request.
Inventors: |
McMahan; Paul F. (Apex, NC),
Daniels; Fonda J. (Cary, NC), Guido; Patrick R. (Cary,
NC), Gyure; Wesley J. (Wake Forest, NC), Hayes, Jr.; Kent
F. (Chapel Hill, NC), Leah; Robert C. (Cary, NC) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
McMahan; Paul F.
Daniels; Fonda J.
Guido; Patrick R.
Gyure; Wesley J.
Hayes, Jr.; Kent F.
Leah; Robert C. |
Apex
Cary
Cary
Wake Forest
Chapel Hill
Cary |
NC
NC
NC
NC
NC
NC |
US
US
US
US
US
US |
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Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation (Armonk, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
38113117 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/439,486 |
Filed: |
April 4, 2012 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20120197985 A1 |
Aug 2, 2012 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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11352665 |
Jun 5, 2012 |
8195822 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/230 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
21/6209 (20130101); H04L 63/101 (20130101); G06F
21/56 (20130101); H04L 61/1511 (20130101); H04L
29/12066 (20130101); G06F 2221/2119 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
15/173 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;709/230,223,220 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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10-053331 |
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Sep 1999 |
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JP |
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11-586065 |
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Sep 2002 |
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JP |
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13-100501 |
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Oct 2002 |
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JP |
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15-017989 |
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Aug 2003 |
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JP |
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01/90932 |
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Nov 2001 |
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WO |
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2004/104854 |
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Dec 2004 |
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WO |
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Other References
European Patent Office, PCT International Search Report and Written
Opinion for Application No. PCT/EP2007/051208, Jun. 29, 2007, pp.
1-8, Rijswijk, The Netherlands. cited by applicant .
Nataraj Nagaratnam, et al., Resource Access Control for an Internet
User Agent, Proceedings of the 3rd USENIX Conference on
Object-Oriented Technologies and Systems, Jun. 1997, pp. 1-11,
USENIX Association, Portland, OR, USA. cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Nov. 18, 2008, pp. 1-15, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Apr. 21, 2009, pp. 1-5, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Aug. 13, 2009, pp. 1-5, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Mar. 12, 2010, pp. 1-8, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Jun. 21, 2010, pp. 1-7, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Nov. 3, 2010, pp. 1-6, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Feb. 4, 2011, pp. 1-6, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office Action for U.S.
Appl. No. 11/352,665, Jun. 1, 2011, pp. 1-6, Alexandria, VA, USA.
cited by applicant .
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Notice of Allowance for
U.S. Appl. No. 11/352,665, Jan. 27, 2012, pp. 1-11, Alexandria, VA,
USA. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Eng; David
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Lee Law, PLLC Lee; Christopher
B.
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to and
claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/352,665
titled "SUBSTITUTING CONTENT FOR UNDESIRABLE CONTENT IN A WEB
BROWSER," which was filed in the United States Patent and Trademark
Office on Feb. 13, 2006, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,195,822 on
Jun. 5, 2012, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A computer program product comprising a computer readable
storage medium that stores computer readable program code, where
the computer readable program code when executed on a client
computer system causes the client computer system to: detect a
selection, via a user input device of the client computer system
executing a web browser that loads source web content from a
plurality of servers, of a menu command that identifies a selected
area of a web page as containing undesirable content; substitute,
in response to the detection of the selected menu command that
identifies the selected area of the web page as containing the
undesirable content, an alternate Internet Protocol (IP) address
for a hostname of a website that provided the undesirable content,
the alternate IP address being selected based on a content
substitution profile of the client computer system; and reload the
web page, using the substituted alternate IP address in response to
a content request that identifies the undesirable content, with
substituted source web content received from a server accessed via
the alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page instead of displaying the undesirable content identified in
the content request.
2. The computer program product of claim 1, where the area of the
web page is selected from a group consisting of a banner and a
popup window.
3. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to detect the selection, via the user input
device of the client computing system, of the menu command that
identifies the selected area of the web page as containing
undesirable content, the computer readable program code when
executed on the client computer system causes the client computer
system to: detect actuation of one of a pointing device, a function
key, and a keyboard shortcut; in response to detection of the
actuation, display a context menu; and detect the selection, from
the context menu, of the menu command instructing the web browser
to avoid content from the website that provided the undesirable
content.
4. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to substitute, in response to the detection
of the selected menu command that identifies the selected area of
the web page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate
IP address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer readable program code when
executed on the client computer system causes the client computer
system to provide the alternate IP address to one of a domain name
service (DNS) and a hosts file.
5. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to reload the web page, using the
substituted alternate IP address in response to a content request
that identifies the undesirable content, with substituted source
web content received from a server accessed via the alternate IP
address displayed in the selected area of the web page instead of
displaying the undesirable content identified in the content
request, the computer readable program code when executed on the
client computer system causes the client computer system to display
the substituted source web content from a selected website hosted
by the server in place of the undesirable content based on the
content substitution profile of the client computing system.
6. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to reload the web page, using the
substituted alternate IP address in response to a content request
that identifies the undesirable content, with substituted source
web content received from a server accessed via the alternate IP
address displayed in the selected area of the web page instead of
displaying the undesirable content identified in the content
request, the computer readable program code when executed on the
client computer system causes the client computer system to display
the substituted source web content pertaining to a particular
subject matter in place of the undesirable content based on the
content substitution profile of the client computing system.
7. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to reload the web page, using the
substituted alternate IP address in response to a content request
that identifies the undesirable content, with substituted source
web content received from a server accessed via the alternate IP
address displayed in the selected area of the web page instead of
displaying the undesirable content identified in the content
request, the computer readable program code when executed on the
client computer system causes the client computer system to display
the substituted source web content from a website of a selected
entity hosted by the server in place of the undesirable content
based on the content substitution profile of the client computing
system.
8. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to substitute, in response to the detection
of the selected menu command that identifies the selected area of
the web page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate
IP address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer readable program code when
executed on the client computer system causes the client computer
system to replace the undesirable content originating from a
specific website with the substituted source web content received
from the alternate IP address based on the content substitution
profile of the client computing system.
9. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to substitute, in response to the detection
of the selected menu command that identifies the selected area of
the web page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate
IP address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer readable program code when
executed on the client computer system causes the client computer
system to replace the undesirable content associated with a
specific entity with the substituted source web content received
from the alternate IP address based on the content substitution
profile of the client computing system.
10. The computer program product of claim 1, where the content
substitution profile of the client computing system comprises a
plurality of content substitution profiles, each profile associated
with one of a set of users and each profile configured to cause the
client computer system to substitute desirable content for the
undesirable content for the set of users for whom service is
provided, and where the set of users comprises at least a portion
of one of a corporate set of users associated with an intranet and
a set of users associated with a service provider domain.
11. The computer program product of claim 1, where, in causing the
client computer system to reload the web page, the computer
readable program code when executed on the client computer system
causes the client computer system to reload the web page with the
substituted source web content at a later time in response to
detection of the request for content that identifies the
undesirable content at the later time.
12. A method for deploying an application, comprising: providing a
computer infrastructure being operable to: detect a selection, via
a user input device of a client computing system executing a web
browser that loads source web content from a plurality of servers,
of a menu command that identifies a selected area of a web page as
containing undesirable content; substitute, via the client
computing system in response to the detection of the selected menu
command that identifies the selected area of the web page as
containing the undesirable content, an alternate Internet Protocol
(IP) address for a hostname of a website that provided the
undesirable content, the alternate IP address being selected based
on a content substitution profile of the client computing system;
and reload the web page, using the substituted alternate IP address
in response to a content request that identifies the undesirable
content, with substituted source web content received from a server
accessed via the alternate IP address displayed in the selected
area of the web page instead of displaying the undesirable content
identified in the content request.
13. The method of claim 12, where the area of the web page is
selected from a group consisting of a banner and a popup
window.
14. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to detect the
selection, via the user input device of the client computing system
executing a web browser that loads source web content from a
plurality of servers, of the menu command that identifies the
selected area of the web page as containing the undesirable
content, the computer infrastructure is operable to: detect
actuation of one of a pointing device, a function key, and a
keyboard shortcut; in response to detection of the actuation,
display a context menu; and detect the selection, from the context
menu, of the menu command instructing the web browser to avoid
content from the website that provided the undesirable content.
15. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to substitute,
via the client computing system in response to the detection of the
selected menu command that identifies the selected area of the web
page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate IP
address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer infrastructure is operable to:
provide the alternate IP address to one of a domain name service
(DNS) and a hosts file.
16. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to reload the
web page, using the substituted alternate IP address in response to
a content request that identifies the undesirable content, with
substituted source web content received from a server accessed via
the alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page instead of displaying the undesirable content identified in
the content request, the computer infrastructure is operable to:
display the substituted source web content from a selected website
hosted by the server in place of the undesirable content based on
the content substitution profile of the client computing
system.
17. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to the reload
the web page, using the substituted alternate IP address in
response to a content request that identifies the undesirable
content, with substituted source web content received from a server
accessed via the alternate IP address displayed in the selected
area of the web page instead of displaying the undesirable content
identified in the content request, the computer infrastructure is
operable to: display the substituted source web content pertaining
to a particular subject matter in place of the undesirable content
based on the content substitution profile of the client computing
system.
18. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to reload the
web page, using the substituted alternate IP address in response to
a content request that identifies the undesirable content, with
substituted source web content received from a server accessed via
the alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page instead of displaying the undesirable content identified in
the content request, the computer infrastructure is operable to:
display the substituted source web content from a website of a
selected entity hosted by the server in place of the undesirable
content based on the content substitution profile of the client
computing system.
19. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to substitute,
via the client computing system in response to the detection of the
selected menu command that identifies the selected area of the web
page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate IP
address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer infrastructure is operable to:
replace the undesirable content originating from a specific website
with the substituted source web content received from the alternate
IP address based on the content substitution profile of the client
computing system.
20. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to substitute,
via the client computing system in response to the detection of the
selected menu command that identifies the selected area of the web
page as containing the undesirable content, the alternate IP
address for the hostname of the website that provided the
undesirable content, the computer infrastructure is operable to:
replace the undesirable content associated with a specific entity
with the substituted source web content received from the alternate
IP address based on the content substitution profile of the client
computing system.
21. The method of claim 12, where the content substitution profile
of the client computing system comprises a plurality of content
substitution profiles, each profile associated with one of a set of
users and each profile configured to cause the computer
infrastructure to substitute desirable content for the undesirable
content for the set of users for whom service is provided, and
where the set of users comprises at least a portion of one of a
corporate set of users associated with an intranet and a set of
users associated with a service provider domain.
22. The method of claim 12, where, in being operable to reload the
web page, the computer infrastructure is operable to: reload the
web page with the substituted source web content at a later time in
response to detection of the request for content that identifies
the undesirable content at the later time.
Description
BACKGROUND
The present invention generally relates to the Internet, and more
specifically relates to a method, system, and computer program
product for preventing a web browser from loading content from
undesirable sources.
Web pages often include banner advertisements and popup windows
that originate from third party sources (e.g., ad servers). For the
most part, such banner advertisements and popup windows are well
behaved and do not significantly intrude on an end user's
experience. However at other times (and this is becoming much more
common) banner advertisements and popup windows can be very
distracting and annoying to a user and can contain undesirable
content. Flashy multimedia in banner advertisements and popup
windows can consume significant bandwidth and can even infect a
user's computer with unwanted software. Such unwanted software can
include, for example, software that covertly gathers user
information through a user's Internet connection without his or her
knowledge, usually for advertising purposes (e.g., spyware),
software (often malicious) that installs itself surreptitiously on
a user's computer (e.g., a Trojan horse), or software that causes a
popup window to spawn one or more subsequent popup windows when
closed by a user. Banner advertisements and popup windows can also
contain undesirable content (e.g., an advertisement) that is
offensive to some users.
An illustrative web page 10 assembled by a web browser using
content retrieved from a plurality of different sources is depicted
in FIG. 1. One or more sections of the web page 10 are used to
display information that is not necessarily relevant to the main
content 12 of the web page 10. In this example, the information is
provided in the form of banner advertisements 14, 16 and a popup
window 18, which have been delineated from the main content 12
using dotted lines for illustrative purposes only. The information
displayed in the banner advertisements 14, 16 and the popup window
18 is retrieved by the web browser rendering the web page 10 from
one or more web servers 20. The typically "undesired" content 24
for the banner advertisements 14, 16 and the popup window 18 is
obtained by the web browser by pointing to a respective website
(e.g., adsite1.com, adsite2.com, adsite3.com) on a respective web
server 20 using a hostname (via a domain name service (DNS) or
hosts file) or an Internet Protocol (IP) address 26. The "desired"
main content 12 of the web page 10 is obtained in a similar manner
from one or more websites (e.g., contentsite(s).com) on one or more
web servers 20.
Since the undesirable content in a web page usually comes from
third party sources, the website hosting the web page is often
oblivious to the problems experienced by an end user that are
associated with banner advertisements and popup windows.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way for a user to selectively
block out content from undesirable third party sources while still
retaining desirable content in place on a web page.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention provides a method, system, and computer
program product for preventing a web browser from loading content
from undesirable sources.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for
preventing a web browser from loading content from an undesirable
source, comprising: selecting an area of a web page containing
undesirable content; substituting an alternate Internet Protocol
(IP) address for a hostname of a website that provided the
undesirable content based on a profile; and redisplaying the web
page with content from the alternate IP address displayed in the
selected area of the web page.
A second aspect of the present invention is directed to a system
for preventing a web browser from loading content from an
undesirable source, comprising: a system for selecting an area of a
web page containing undesirable content; a system for substituting
an alternate Internet Protocol (IP) address for a hostname of a
website that provided the undesirable content based on a profile;
and a system for displaying the web page with content from the
alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page.
A third aspect of the present invention is directed to a program
product stored on a computer readable medium for preventing a web
browser from loading content from an undesirable source, the
computer readable medium comprising program code for performing the
steps of: selecting an area of a web page containing undesirable
content; substituting an alternate Internet Protocol (IP) address
for a hostname of a website that provided the undesirable content
based on a profile; and redisplaying the web page with content from
the alternate IP address displayed in the selected area of the web
page.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is directed to a method
for deploying an application for preventing a web browser from
loading content from an undesirable source, comprising: providing a
computer infrastructure being operable to: select an area of a web
page containing undesirable content; substitute an alternate
Internet Protocol (IP) address for a hostname of a website that
provided the undesirable content based on a profile; and redisplay
the web page with content from the alternate IP address displayed
in the selected area of the web page.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is directed to computer
software embodied in a propagated signal for preventing a web
browser from loading content from an undesirable source, the
computer software comprising program code for causing a computer
system to perform the following steps: selecting an area of a web
page containing undesirable content; substituting an alternate
Internet Protocol (IP) address for a hostname of a website that
provided the undesirable content based on a profile; and
redisplaying the web page with content from the alternate IP
address displayed in the selected area of the web page.
The illustrative aspects of the present invention are designed to
solve the problems herein described and other problems not
discussed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of this invention will be more readily
understood from the following detailed description of the various
aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative web page including banner
advertisements and a popup window.
FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative flow diagram of a method in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 3-5 depict an illustrative operational example in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative computer system for implementing
embodiment(s) of the present invention.
The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended to
portray specific parameters of the invention. The drawings are
intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and
therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the
invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention provides a method, system, and computer
program product for preventing a web browser from loading content
from undesirable sources.
A flow diagram 30 of a method in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention is depicted in FIG. 2. In step S1, a user
selects an area (e.g., banner advertisement, popup window, etc.) of
a web page containing undesirable content. As shown in FIG. 3, for
example, the user has selected the banner advertisement 14 on the
web page 10 by positioning a mouse pointer 32 over the banner
advertisement 14 and actuating (e.g., right-clicking) a designated
button on the mouse. Other selection methodologies are also
possible. In response, a context menu 34 is displayed in step S2. A
context menu 34 may also be displayed, for example, in response to
an actuation of a function key, keyboard shortcut, etc. In step S3,
the user selects the "Avoid content from this site" command 36 from
the context menu 34.
In step S4, in response to the user selection of the "Avoid content
from this site" command 36 from the context menu 34, the present
invention substitutes an alternate IP address for the hostname of
the website that provided the undesirable content. For instance, as
shown in FIG. 4, a browser module/plug-in 38 substitutes in a local
DNS server 42 (or hosts file) an alternate IP address 40 (e.g.,
xxx.xxx.x.x) for the hostname (e.g., adsite1.com) of the website
that provided the undesirable content. The substitution is based on
a profile 44. In this example, the alternate IP address 40 points
to a website (e.g., desirable-contentsite.com) that provides more
desirable content for display in the banner advertisement 14. One
or more profiles 44 can be associated with each user and
selectively accessed.
In step S5, the user loads or reloads the web page 10 at a later
time. In step S6, content from the website associated with the
alternate IP address 40 is displayed in the area selected by the
user in step S1. In the above example, as shown in FIG. 5, when a
request for content from the website adsite1.com is received by the
local DNS server 42 (or hosts file), the local DNS server 42 (or
hosts file) now points to the website (desirable-contentsite.com)
corresponding to the alternate IP address (xxx.xxx.x.x) provided by
the browser module/plug-in 38. As a result, desirable content from
the website desirable-contentsite.com, in this example stock
quotes, is now displayed in the banner advertisement 14 instead of
the undesirable content previously provided by the website
adsite1.com.
The profile 44 (FIG. 4) is used to control the content that is
loaded in a selected area (e.g., banner advertisement, popup
window, etc.) of a web page in place of undesirable content. The
profile 44 can be created by a user to drive the behavior of the
content loading. Preset profiles 44 are also possible. Virtually
any type of profile 44 can be used in the practice of the present
invention. For example, the profile 44 could be configured by a
user 46 via a user interface (UI) 48 (FIG. 4) to: Display content
(e.g., images, graphics, text, content from a portlet, etc.) from
one or more selected websites in place of undesirable content.
Display content pertaining to one or more types of selected subject
matter in place of undesirable content. Display content
(advertisements, product information, etc.) from the website of one
or more selected entities (e.g., company, organization, retailer,
etc.) in place of undesirable content. Replace undesirable content
in popup windows, but not banner advertisements, or vice versa.
Replace undesirable content originating from specific websites with
more desirable content. Replace undesirable content associated with
a specific entity (e.g., company, organization, retailer, etc.) or
containing a specific type of subject matter (e.g., an
advertisement) with other more desirable content. When used within
a corporate intranet or within a service provider's domain, replace
undesirable content with more desirable content for the entire set
of users for which service is provided.
A computer system 100 for preventing a web browser from loading
content from undesirable sources in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 6. Computer system 100
is provided in a computer infrastructure 102. Computer system 100
is intended to represent any type of computer system capable of
carrying out the teachings of the present invention. For example,
computer system 100 can be a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a
workstation, a handheld device, a server, a cluster of computers,
etc. In addition, as will be further described below, computer
system 100 can be deployed and/or operated by a service provider
that provides a service for preventing a web browser from loading
content from undesirable sources in accordance with the present
invention. It should be appreciated that a user 46 can access
computer system 100 directly, or can operate a computer system that
communicates with computer system 100 over a network 106 (e.g., the
Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a
virtual private network (VPN), etc). In the case of the latter,
communications between computer system 100 and a user-operated
computer system can occur via any combination of various types of
communications links. For example, the communication links can
comprise addressable connections that can utilize any combination
of wired and/or wireless transmission methods. Where communications
occur via the Internet, connectivity can be provided by
conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol, and an Internet service
provider can be used to establish connectivity to the Internet.
Computer system 100 is shown including a processing unit 108, a
memory 110, a bus 112, and input/output (I/O) interfaces 114.
Further, computer system 100 is shown in communication with
external devices/resources 116 and one or more storage units 118.
In general, processing unit 108 executes computer program code,
such as content control system 130, that is stored in memory 110
and/or storage units(s) 118. While executing computer program code,
processing unit 108 can read and/or write data, to/from memory 110,
storage unit(s) 118, and/or I/O interfaces 114. Bus 112 provides a
communication link between each of the components in computer
system 100. External devices/resources 116 can comprise any devices
(e.g., keyboard, pointing device, display (e.g., display 120,
printer, etc.) that enable a user to interact with computer system
100 and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that
enable computer system 100 to communicate with one or more other
computing devices.
Computer infrastructure 102 is only illustrative of various types
of computer infrastructures that can be used to implement the
present invention. For example, in one embodiment, computer
infrastructure 102 can comprise two or more computing devices
(e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over a network (e.g.,
network 106) to perform the various process steps of the invention.
Moreover, computer system 100 is only representative of the many
types of computer systems that can be used in the practice of the
present invention, each of which can include numerous combinations
of hardware/software. For example, processing unit 108 can comprise
a single processing unit, or can be distributed across one or more
processing units in one or more locations, e.g., on a client and
server. Similarly, memory 110 and/or storage unit(s) 118 can
comprise any combination of various types of data storage and/or
transmission media that reside at one or more physical locations.
Further, I/O interfaces 114 can comprise any system for exchanging
information with one or more external devices/resources 116. Still
further, it is understood that one or more additional components
(e.g., system software, communication systems, cache memory, etc.)
not shown in FIG. 6 can be included in computer system 100.
However, if computer system 100 comprises a handheld device or the
like, it is understood that one or more external devices/resources
116 (e.g., a display) and/or one or more storage unit(s) 118 can be
contained within computer system 100, and not externally as
shown.
Storage unit(s) 118 can be any type of system (e.g., a database)
capable of providing storage for information under the present
invention. To this extent, storage unit(s) 118 can include one or
more storage devices, such as a magnetic disk drive or an optical
disk drive. In another embodiment, storage unit(s) 118 can include
data distributed across, for example, a local area network (LAN),
wide area network (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (not
shown). Moreover, although not shown, computer systems operated by
user 46 can contain computerized components similar to those
described above with regard to computer system 100.
Shown in memory 110 (e.g., as a computer program product) is a
content control system 130 for preventing a web browser 132 from
loading content from undesirable sources in accordance with
embodiment(s) of the present invention. The content control system
130 includes a selection system 134 for selecting (by the user) an
area of a web page 10 containing undesirable content. In response
to the selection of an area of the web page 10 containing
undesirable content, a context menu 34 (FIG. 3) is displayed that
includes a command such as "Avoid content from this site." Upon
selection of this command, a browser module/plug-in 38 substitutes
in a local DNS server 42 (or hosts file) an alternate IP address
for the hostname of the website that provided the undesirable
content. The provision of the alternate IP address is based on
profile information provided in a profile 44. When the web page 10
is subsequently loaded/reloaded, content from the website
associated with the alternate IP address is displayed in the
selected area of the web page 10, as described above.
The present invention can be offered as a business method on a
subscription or fee basis. For example, one or more components of
the present invention can be created, maintained, supported, and/or
deployed by a service provider that offers the functions described
herein for customers. That is, a service provider can be used to
provide a service for preventing a web browser from loading content
from undesirable sources, as described above.
It should also be understood that the present invention can be
realized in hardware, software, a propagated signal, or any
combination thereof. Any kind of computer/server system(s)--or
other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described
herein--is suitable. A typical combination of hardware and software
can include a general purpose computer system with a computer
program that, when loaded and executed, carries out the respective
methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific use computer,
containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or more of the
functional tasks of the invention, can be utilized. The present
invention can also be embedded in a computer program product or a
propagated signal, which comprises all the respective features
enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and
which--when loaded in a computer system--is able to carry out these
methods.
The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment,
an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment containing both
hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the
invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not
limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.
The present invention can take the form of a computer program
product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable
medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a
computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of
this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can
be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate,
or transport the program for use by or in connection with the
instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or
device), or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable
medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic
tape, removable computer diskette, random access memory (RAM),
read-only memory (ROM), rigid magnetic disk and optical disk.
Current examples of optical disks include a compact disk--read only
disk (CD-ROM), a compact disk--read/write disk (CD-R/W), and a
digital versatile disk (DVD).
Computer program, propagated signal, software program, program, or
software, in the present context mean any expression, in any
language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to
cause a system having an information processing capability to
perform a particular function either directly or after either or
both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or
notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of this
invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many
modifications and variations are possible.
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